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Driving around Argyll we all of a sudden ended up on my road.....I was a little confused until I realised that it was the road Tullochgorum in Scotland and not the one in Howick...silly me.

Fort of Dunadd

This is Dunadd. It is difficult to believe today, but between AD500 and 900 this was one of the most important places in Scotland. For this was the capital of the original kingdom of Scotland. The location of the fort is high up on a rocky hill, which as you can see was quite the trek up. Neil is being a gentlemen and helping his mom up.

Where's Waldo???

Here Sayard is placing her foot on a very important spot, for it is thought that the ancient Kings were inaugurated by placing his foot into this rocky imprint. 2006, the Queen has finally arrived.

A view of the surrounding country side. The fort had a prime location as all trade arrived from other parts of Europe by the body of water you see in the distance.

It was good to have my parents here and take in history such as this.

Standing Stones

Sayard standing beside a large standing stone which is part of a larger circle called Nether Largie Stones.

It's amazing to think that these stones have been here for thousands of years.

This is Temple Wood where the earliest stones that lie in these circles date back to around 3000BC.

These standing stone circles were often used as a place to worship. There are still many questions as to what eactly would have been done here, but many people speculate that it was a kind of calendar. As you can see on this stone there seems to be an imprint of a sun, maybe this relates to a type of sky worship?

Here is a distant view of a large cairn (a type of burial chamber) which is to the left, with a view of Kilmartin further back. The cairn predates the village having been built in about 3000-2500BC. Old stuff is so cool!

Kilmartin

We left Oban and headed to our next destination, the bustling town of Kilmartin..

..wait did I say bustling? I meant to say a wee one road village.


This is the church in Kilmartin which we traveled to see. Kilmartin actually means Church of St-Martin in Gaelic.

The cemetery here contains tombs that date back to the 1300's.

Here are but a few of these tomb stones that have been preserved here for hundred of years.

Oban

After driving from Stirling to the House of Bruar, then from there through the Trossachs National Park for about 3 hours, we finally arrived in our destination of Oban. Oban is a coastal town on the western edge of Scotland.

The view of the harbor at night. It was a very pretty town, too bad my camera can't capture the image that we saw.

Neil's parents waiting for our table to be ready at an amazing seafood restaurant. Neil and I had not eaten that well in a long time.

The next morning we made our way to the McCaig Monument which overlooks the town of Oban. A very rich Mr. McCaig commisioned this monument to be built not only to honor his family but to provide the unemployed local men with jobs during the winter months.

The view from here was amazing. I believe you can see the Island of Mull in the distance.

A nice photo of the voyagers.